CORPORATES COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO…
You know how it is; you run a corporate with big marketing budgets and the ability to use any of the top agencies to help you deliver your next campaign or marketing push. What could we possibly learn from Mom and Pop organisations run on a shoestring by amateurs?
I offer three secrets that should make you think harder:
Storytelling that changes lives
Every charity fundraiser and marketeer knows the value of storytelling. When selling something that isn’t a physical thing, but a sense of wellbeing and doing good, storytelling is often all you have. Charities bring their raison d'être to life by introducing you to amazing people, fantastic animals or a future of hope and excitement. They ask you to imagine yourself in their shoes. Imagine what it would be like. And show the difference that supporting the cause will make to those who need help.
It's easy to find the hooks in a charity, but it’s so often overlooked by corporates that focus on features and products, not benefits and purpose.
Look at the latest charity appeal of your choice and think how you can gain that resonance and closeness to customers that charities do without blinking.
Flexible passionate staff
It’s easy to think of staff in charities as willing amateurs bumbling around doing the best they can – in fact the media would love you to think that. Charities are run by amateurs with a single CEO earning millions – everyone knows that surely? Because staff are involved in small teams with multiple priorities, they can never really focus and become experts.
Nothing would be further from the truth.
Charity staff are resourceful experts, creating innovation and new ways of working on tiny budgets. They often have expertise in multiple areas of the business and can turn their hand to anything that needs doing. And it goes without saying that their passion scores are off the chart. Wouldn’t you like your staff team to be these kinds of people?
How well would they represent your brand?
The biggest agency is not the best – shock!
Big agencies are great. They offer unbridled numbers of staff to work on your project and can turn their hand to anything, it seems.
However, how important is your account to them? Do they put their best most senior staff on it? Does your project manager have the focus and dedication to give you the best, when they are managing multiple clients? Is the person you’ve been briefing actually involved in creation and development? Surely you want to talk to the person who is most interested in your work and who is actually involved in the project?
Smaller and more niche agencies or freelancers will be keener to deliver and offer you dedicated service. Money talks, but does it deliver value and results?
It’s so easy to look at other companies and say what are they doing that we are not. Instead look at the charitable sector and say, “what can be learn from them?”. The results might surprise you.